1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of surgery, and more particularly relates to a siderail socket for mounting a support rod of a surgical accessory on the siderail of a medical or operating table.
2. Description of the Related Art
Surgical accessories such as leg holders and arm supports are often mounted on support rods to position the accessories and support a patient lying on a medical or operating table. Commonly, such support rods are secured to siderails which extend parallel to the sides of the medical table. The support rods are typically clamped near one end to the siderail and include elbows defining portions which extend over the upper surface of the table to position the accessories. Preferably, the angular orientation of the support rods relative to the side of the table is adjustable to provide increased control over the placement of the accessories.
Medical table siderails are typically rectangular in cross-section, with their shortest dimension parallel to the upper surface of the table. One known form of siderail socket or clamp grips opposite sides of a siderail between flat surfaces of the clamp. A drawback to such clamps is that a degree of "play" may exist between the clamp and the siderail. That is, since the siderail is gripped between flat surfaces, the clamp may be slightly displaced laterally or angularly if bumped or jarred. This displacement of the clamp may affect the placement of a surgical accessory mounted on a support rod secured to the siderail by the clamp.
In certain procedures, it is particularly desirable to minimize movement of accessories clamped to the siderails. For example, during certain neurosurgery procedures, a clamping structure held in place on the siderails is used to immovably locate a patient's head.
One proposed form of clamp which attempts to reduce the amount of movement of the clamp includes a pivoting jaw configured such that the clamp engages against all four sides of the cross-section of the siderail to grip the siderail across two perpendicular dimensions. While the engagement of this clamp with the siderail across two perpendicular dimensions may reduce the "play" between the siderail and the clamp, the pivoting jaw increases the complexity of the clamp as well as its effective size.